I've been an editor at Forbes since 1998, overseeing a variety of topics including legal affairs, autos, economy, Wall St, philanthropy, you name it. Prior to Forbes I wrote for Newsweek magazine, covering general business as well as legal and media issues. I also wrote or edited for The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers and wire services, some of which are still alive.

1/09/2011 @ 4:29PM3,288 views

How Law Schools are Ripping Off Students, Enron-Like

The New York Times ran an excellent piece this morning that spells out in great detail how many of the nation’s law schools are essentially like bad vocational schools—they rope in students with dubious job placement statistics and then pile student debt on them.

Here’s one money quote:

“Enron-type accounting standards have become the norm,” says William Henderson of Indiana University, one of many exasperated law professors who are asking the American Bar Association to overhaul the way law schools assess themselves. “Every time I look at this data, I feel dirty.”

How is it, for instance, that in a dramatically shrinking legal industry, law schools are reporting increasing number of their grads are landing positions within nine months of graduation? Turns out those stats, supplied for U.S. News and World Report’s ranking, include any job landed—whether waiting tables at Applebee’s or stocking aisles at Home Depot, as Times writer David Segal puts it.

I exchanged emails about this today with Samuel Issacharoff, a professor at New York University’s law school. He’s bothered that some schools are selling pipe dreams but prospective students can’t easily discern which schools are guilty. That’s because students are unable to obtain stats on which schools are likely to graduate folks who cannot repay their student loans. The professor writes: “Some schools have huge default rates on student loans and others do not.”

The marketplace could resolve much of this problem, he argues, if accurate, transparent statistics were available, and students could make their choices accordingly.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.